Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Ready For NCAA Opener Vs. UConn
March 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Colorado Buffaloes have been here before.
Now, the Buffs would like to earn an extended stay.
“Here,” of course, is the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The majority of players on CU's current roster have experienced an NCAA first-round game, with a handful having lived the experience twice.
But nobody on Tad Boyle's roster has played in two NCAA tourney games in the same year. CU's last two tournament appearances have been of the one-and-done variety.
It's a trend CU can end Thursday when the eighth-seeded Buffs (22-11) meet No. 9 UConn (24-10) in the NCAA South Region opener at Wells Fargo Arena (TNT). The winner will face either top-seeded Kansas or No. 16 Austin Peay on Saturday.
“Now they understand if you're not ready to go from the get-go, it's a short stay,” Boyle said at Wednesday afternoon's press conference. “There are going to be 34 teams that lose their first game. So from a toughness standpoint and sense of urgency standpoint we've got to make sure we bring it from the opening jump. I think our players understand that.”
Boyle believes the fact that eight of the 14 players who will be in a CU uniform Thursday have seen at least one tournament game is a plus.
“This is our fourth tournament in five years, so I think the awe factor is gone from our players,” Boyle said. “I think they understand what's in front of them and they're look forward to the opportunity.”
But it's not as if the Huskies, who earned their berth by winning the AAC Tournament, are newbies to the NCAA scene. Two years ago, as CU was losing its opener to Pitt, UConn was beginning a six-game roll that produced the Huskies' fourth national championship.
“You can go back through the history of UConn teams, this is where we peak and this team is no different,” Huskies coach Kevin Ollie said Wednesday. “I'm not saying that's going to guarantee a national championship but our team is playing their best basketball now because they're understanding their roles and understanding how to play hard, and they're understanding what the game demands of them each and every day.”
But the Buffs, who went through a relatively brief but intense practice Wednesday at Drake University, have spent the week also making it clear they are no longer in the “just happy to be here” mode. CU big man Josh Scott, who has played in both of CU's last two tournament appearances, said he's seen a difference in this year's squad.
“I think we have had chippy, crisp practices for the most part, which is a good thing,” Scott said. “It just shows that the guys care and they don't want to go out after just making it to the tournament. They want to win games. I think that's important, and I think that would be the biggest difference I would say between the other two times we were here before.”
Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs, but at this point of the season, there are no secrets. The Buffs know the Huskies are a defensive-minded team with a balanced offensive attack; the Huskies know the Buffs are an outstanding rebounding team with an excellent big man in Scott and an outstanding 3-point shooter in George King.
“Defensively, UConn is fourth in the country in field goal percentage defense,” Boyle said. “I think we're a good defensive team, but we're not fourth in the country and they are. We have to be able to make shots, and the way we have to get shots is take care of the basketball. They pose significant challenges defensively, and offensively they're a team that is very explosive. They've got a lot of guys that can hurt you. We have to have a great team defensive effort and each guy has to take on a challenge, and they pose a lot of challenges.”
Ollie called the Buffs a “great team.”
“They start with Scott down low,” Ollie said. “He's versatile, so we are going to have to do a great job guarding him. Then they got great 3-point shoot shooting. (Dominique) Collier is doing a great job running the team, they shot 35 percent from the 3-point all season and King is an absolutely wonderful player. We have to get back in transition first, we're going to have to defend for the full 30 and then we're going to have to rebound — and that's the one thing they do great.”
The Buffs have been getting the bulk of their scoring from Scott (16.1 points per game) and King (13.8 ppg) while the Huskies have four players averaging at least 12 points per game, led by Shonn Miller (12.8 ppg) and Rodney Purvis (12.5). The Huskies' most dangerous player, though, might be 6-7 wing Daniel Hamilton, who leads UConn in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and assists (4.8 rpg) and is third in scoring (12.4 ppg).
But the statistic that matters most to the Buffs is their tournament record. This is CU's fourth NCAA trip in the last five years, but thus far, that stretch has produced just one NCAA win.
“We're to the point now where we're not just happy to be here,” Boyle said. “We want to advance. We're past experiencing the NCAA Tournament feel. We want to be here. We want to make some noise, and the only way you do that is by winning games, and the only way you win games is to play well at this time of the year. Our players are challenged, our coaches are challenged, and it's time for us to take the next step.”
HARDY HEADED TO PATRIOTS: Buffs basketball director of strength and conditioning James Hardy will be leaving CU at the end of the basketball season to become the New England Patriots' assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Hardy has been at Colorado for nine years, seven with the basketball team.
“I love the University of Colorado and I love the direction it's going right now — and that's why this was such a difficult decision for me,” Hardy said. “But, this was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.”
Hardy has played an integral role in helping Boyle and the Buffs become one of the Pac-12's best conditioned teams.
“The opportunity to work for people like Coach Boyle and Rick George has been amazing,” Hardy said. “I'm really excited about the direction Colorado is going in right now. It's a steady trajectory up and I'm glad that I got to be a part of that. The people I've worked with, the people I've met and the people who mentored me, whether it's my co-workers or my bosses, put me in position to have this next opportunity.”
Prior to coming to Colorado, Hardy worked at Auburn and Christopher Newport University in Virginia.
“This has been an incredibly important part of my life and I will definitely miss it here,” Hardy said. “I hope that maybe someday I'll have the chance to come back in some capacity, but this is a great opportunity in front of me.”
UCONN CONNECTION: While Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Colorado and UConn, there is a connection between the two programs.
CU Director of Operations Bill Cartun played high school ball in Avon, Conn., where he was a two-time all-state selection. He earned his bachelor's degree at Bates College, then picked up a master's degree in sport management at UConn in 2007. While there, he also worked with the men's basketball program as a student assistant.
From there, he spent three years (2007-10) with the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA as the basketball operations assistant and assistant video coordinator. With the Bobcats, he prepared video scouting edits for the coaches and players, scouted collegiate talent, and assisted in NBA draft preparation.
When Boyle took the job in Boulder, he hired Cartun.
“He's got the most job security of anybody on our staff because nobody can do what he does,” Boyle said Wednesday. “He's our film guy, he is one of the first people we hired when we got to Colorado six years ago and he came from the NBA, worked for the Bobcats, worked for Coach (Larry) Brown, and he has expanded his role. He's terrific, and he's does a lot of administrative things through our office.”
Along with many late nights and early mornings preparing film for coaches and players, Cartun is also responsible for many of the day-to-day operations of the program.
“Bill is a big, big asset to Colorado basketball, a guy that doesn't meet the public's eye very often, but a guy that I really rely on on a day-to-day basis in terms of how our program is run,” Boyle said. “We're proud to have Bill, and he will be with us as long as I'm there, for sure.”
ON THE AIR: Thursday's game will be televised by TNT with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call. KDSP 760 AM will carry the radio broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke. The game is also available online at NCAA.com and live statistics will be available at CUBuffs.com.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
